Sadistic
by egomaniacexile
Summary: "Anyone can betray anyone..."
1. Chapter 1

Have you ever considered what it felt like to have your free will taken from you; ripped from you whole by the one person you considered you 'trusted'? Your conscience turned into someone else's, if not nothing at all.

Elizabeth wasn't sure if she felt this, for if she did she had no recollection; her thoughts were clouds that meant nothing, pushed to the brims of her mind by the the strongest wind: pain. It was almost like the searing burn you hear when you place raw meat in a hot pan, with the pan's rims beginning to etch itself into the smooth skin of the meat, distorting it forever.

Except the distortion had begun its toll too long after she was placed in the pan; her head hanging heavily from her neck as she attempted to ignore the various nerves telling her her body was in desperate need of mend. The fact was obvious, what with her hands tied above her head in chains, gripping themselves into the skin and leaving her a few inches off the floor; her body appearing to be a punching bag in the distance, and even more so once you would notice the vast array of scars, bruises, and burns on her body up close.

Each day she would awake from the blackout of before the same way—pain, pain, and even more pain. It never helped that the only faces she saw were the two that now shook her awake whenever she consciously closed her eyelids—Nicholas Whitehall and Alexis Sparks; the Gutter and the Pheonix. The irony of it all almost made her puke, which wasn't uncommon considering her new diet of water and oxygen.

Today was just like any other; the small frail Eliza jolting awake from her previous blackout, pulling on the chains around her wrists as if it would do her any good (which she was well aware it would not); but you see, it was just a routine. The familiarity of it all made her feel as if she had some individuality left in her; that she wasn't as dead on the interior as she felt on the ex.

"Good morning . Sleep well?" Nicholas had always held this antagonizing tone in his voice, somehow making you wanting to succumb to his very want and need for fear of displeasing him. By now, she had been sick of it; her eyes rolling along with her head as Alexis came into her vision; black hair, wings, and all.

The room was met with silence after the males words, making the blonde girl shiver in the slip she had been wearing—though by now was covered in many holes with burnt edges—before her eyes had met blues.

"You don't—... Y-you don't have to do this." being that she hadn't drank anything for the past few days and seemed to only scream instead, Elizabeth's voice sounded blotchy and inaudible. The only reason she was heard was because of the silence, making her words seem to vibrate off of each concrete wall surrounding the three.

For a second, everything was still as Alexis never took her gaze off the smaller girl, almost as of she was looking for something that wasn't there. However it wasn't long until a small flame was apparent in her hand.

"Mind if I get the first blow of the day?"

And it began; the burning of her skin, the bleeding when there was a seconds hesitance, and most of all, the screams that would tear through her throat. She had never voiced any words though, afraid she'd end up giving in and begging for mercy no matter the terms. So she put up with each distortion done to her skin, her mind, and in reality, her soul.

As time would go on she would grow tired, accepting the damage done as well as the fact that no one was coming for her. In reality, she knew anyone who would make any attempt to find her would just end up dead at the door, and so she latched onto the latter option as if it were somehow better. Though she did remind herself that she still had Alexis, no matter what type of compulsion she was under; she knew underneath was her own conscience, trapped, and trying anything to get out. She had attempted to provoke it many times before, but nothing happened; only a more severe form of torture, pulling her eighth amendment rights from under her feet. Despite such results, she still tried, over and over again. Even now when her mind was ready to pass into a void for the next twenty four hours, she tried. Mentioning everyone—Blake Matthews, her brother Alex, herself in different context with her cousin Matthew Hanson, Rachel Wayne, their Asgardian friend Azalea, Midnight Thomas with her eccentric roommate Michael Arsenal, Lucinda Stark and her brother Dominic, but most of all, she spoke of Jonathan. Nothing ended up with results. No matter what context; what memory; what name. She was still the emotionless drone the Whitehall son had wrapped around his finger. And so Eliza just began mumbling; keeping herself awake and attempting to ignore the mush her internal organs felt like they were becoming. Everything was first nothing; something to be passed over as Alexis continued her 'job'. Though that was until her last statement.

"Theo... He would agree with me when I say you're still in there Lex." The words about the youngest Stark son seemed to tumble out; her mind having forgotten about him before. He was the black sheep of course, yet still vital to Alexis. /Still/, because of the way she seemed to freeze at the first pronunciation of the boys name; the flame on her hand disappearing as her blue eyes had sparked.

"Theo..." The raven haired girl repeated, widening her eyes as if the words meant a large something to her. From this point, Nicholas was intrigued; standing up straighter as his attention turned from the hanging meat to his prized angel.

"Theo's nothing, Sparks; you have me, remember?" Elizabeth cringed at his words as she watch what she suspected was his hand take a grip on Alexis' pale, skinny arm; the girl pushing him back as the fire in her hands reemerged.

"You... You're not who you say you are; you're nothing to me, and you've /ruined/ me you—," Though her words didn't make any complete sense, it was obvious the girl with the wings realized the position she was forcefully put into; her body in a fighting stance and her eyes determined as her fists were covered in a beautiful battle of flames.

The Whitehall across from her seemed to twitch at her words, deciding against taking a step ahead as he watched the fire with dark eyes. It seemed like this scene had played on for a while; Alexis ready to throw a hit and Nick standing still while everything seemed foggy in Eliza's head. The one thing that broke it was her small voice managing a low "Lex..." which finally registered in the other girls brain.

"Eliza what happ—... Oh my god... /I did this.../" the orange flames had dies in Alexis' hands as she spoke the words that should have saved her; what should have been a defining statement before she helped her out and past the chaos.

But of course, that wasn't what happened.

In a second, the murky room was full of men in head to toe black. Not a clothing black, but a battle uniform you would only see on a SHIELD extraction team. At first the young doctor had hoped this was in fact the said agency, but as one of the many broad men brought the handle of his gun in contact with the angel's skull, she could see this wasn't in fact SHIELD. It couldn't have been, because on the neck of every uniform was a skull; a skull with arms that looked like knives that would wrap around your throat and slit it clean.

Before Eliza blacked out once more, she had heard a distinct voice speak in his normal antagonizing ways.

"Hail Hydra."


	2. Chapter 2

(2)

• note: interviews are taken apart and pulled from each characters perspective; this gives it a more crafty visual interpretation as you can just see the interviewee cut from person and person back again without the repetition of questions. however i did in fact mark when another person would begin speaking if that would help anyone •

—

Alexander Pierce was whom everyone referred to as 'Director' these days—considering Fury's death and Captain America's newfound 'Fugitive' status made no one else want to step up to par—and so it was him who Matthew had first contacted in attempt to find his cousin.

It wasn't like she never did this before, disappearing for a week only to come up from the underground with a sudden revelation, but that was a week. It's been almost two month's since anyone's had any type of contact with Eliza, so it was natural everyone who made contact contact with the young doctor was concerned.

"I just think you should take this more seriously, Mr—, erm, Director Pierce." he had told the aging man, who sat across from him against the glass desk that once belonged to the man with an eyepatch.

"Agent Hanson, I am taking this seriously; a good percentage of my people are missing and the original Director of this agency—mind I add, a good friend of mine—dead. How can that /not/ be taken seriously?" Pierce had a way with words that would make anyone nod in understanding; apologize even. Though today there was a strange edge to it that made Matthew press even further.

"But this is different. Everyone else is somehow capable of defending themselves if they need to. Dr. Childs is different." And so he divulged himself into explaining the delicate girl, saying how she'd break in an instant and so on.

That was the moment the man across from him showed any type of curiosity.

"What is there to say? Fury planted her in my company, I fired her, then I realized she was the best at what she does and rehired her like that." Midnight—who entered the building upon being called the next day with quite distaste—didn't bother animating her words with a snap. She knew this new SHIELD Director would get her point, and showed so by nodding.

"Oscorp keeps tight links on all their employees—,"

"She wanted maximum privacy and I respected that. Can I leave now?"

"Just a second; how was her relationship with you, or others she knew in general?"

"/Relationship/?" Jonathan—the one person who was called in the same day as Matthew when he left—laughed at the question. Despite not wanting to waste time for questioning, he had wanted to find out where the hell his friend was as well as his winged lover, and so he had taken the bait and came on call. "She doesn't trust anyone. I'm sure she barely trusts herself at times."

"So she has trust issues?"

"Well I wouldn't phrase it like that..."

"How would you phrase it?"

"She has this like... Like belief system, right?" Michael had no idea what to do with his hands and so he used them as a tool to explain; ignoring Midnight on the other side of the glass constantly checking her watch.

"Belief system?"

"Okay, well when you put it like that, no. She just didn't think anyone aside from herself should know anything meaningful about her. Almost like she was afraid of something."

"Interesting... And so who would know the most?"

"No one I suppose." Matthew scratched the back of his head, beginning to feel uncomfortable with these questions under Director Pierces eye. "No matter what their relation to her."

"Relation? Elaborate on that please."

"Well I mean, I'm her cousin and I barely know half the things that happened to her since she left for college."

"And in light of that, who would you say is the closest to her?"

"Jonathan Hammer of course."

Again, the Hammer boy laughed. "Me, the closest one to Eliza?" another laugh. "Well yeah I've known her for a while, but we're not close. I mean I barely know her favorite color."

"Would you think thats relevant?"

"What, her favorite color?"

"No, the fact that you've known her for so long yet really know so little."

It was silent after that; Jonathan beginning to pull on a loose thread in the chair he sat in before silently excusing himself for the day.

"She's an employee. I don't make it my business to know theirs." Midnight's statement was curt as she crossed her legs over; a fake yet practiced yawn escaping her lips as her eyes surveyed the landscape outside of the HQ windows.

"Yet you've admitted towards being an acquaintance of hers outside of the office?"

"She was one of the few people I could trust with my—..." she shifted in her seat as she hesitated. "Scientifically induced situation. Wouldn't want to blow up off the job now would I?"

"So then, what did you know?"

"What I /know/ is her last name, age, the fact that she's allergic to cats, and that she dated—but explicitly did not bang—the words hottest billionaire."

"I'm sorry, she what?" Michael cleared his throat as he prepared to repeat himself, though Pierce stopped him with a silent hand. "When you say dated, do you mean she had a serious relationship with this man?"

"As serious as you can with a Stark."

"Explain to me Dr. Childs' relationship with Mr. Stark."

"Mr. Stark? Dominic?" Jonathan raised his eyebrow, having not even sat down on his way back in two days after his first visit; Pierce's back to him as he flipped through a file in his hands.

"Yes, yes, Dominic; what was her relationship to Dominic."

There was a long stretch of silence as Jonathan decided against sitting down, toying with the buttons on his open blazer while averting his eyes out the Triskelion windows. "I'm not so sure its in my place to say..." he had finally spoken quietly, making brief eye-contact with the Director as he turned around; his stare harsh as he forcefully dropped a folder onto his desk.

"Mr. Hammer, you're a smart young man, and a good one at times as well, but I cannot have you hiding things from me about a missing agent of mine!" Pierces voice had lost its collectiveness as his hand curled into a fist and smacked the file he threw on the desk, causing Jonathan to slightly jump back. Again, there was a short silence as you could only hear the older man's jagged breaths, and the younger's inconsistent short ones.

"Fury had sent her on an Op to keep him in line... As time went on I suppose they became attached to one another." For a while, Jonathan wasn't even sure it was him who was speaking, for deep down he felt he was betraying the sliver of trust Elizabeth had given him.

"How attached...?" Again, Pierce was calm; readjusting his tie as if nothing had occurred in the past seconds. Though now John knew there was something wrong, and that he should have stopped speaking when he had the chance.

But when did the boy ever listen to his conscience.

"The casual observer would say they still are."


	3. Chapter 3

It was dark again—no, wait, her eyes were just closed. Slowly, Elizabeth's shut eyes had blinked themselves to an open; her aching body adjusting itself to its current laying position on a cot as her eyes did the same to the sudden light.

/Light?/ The blonde girl was surprised as her open eyes fell on what seemed like a transparent window to a room, inside which fluorescent light pulsed over a silver operating table. At the sight, she had shut her eyes again, though only to yet again open to the new, almost strange reality in front of her. Once she had confirmed it was in fact real, she scanned the rest of the room she was currently occupying. There was a silver stool in the corner, next to a table that came off the wall with a chain to keep it upright, and a door ahead of where she laid with a small window, giving the room another source of light. Small, plain, and simple.

Steadily, she had stood from the cot in curiosity, though only to find that all her burns and cuts had been covered in various gauzes and bandages; her bruises past their dark stages and beginning to fade in a slight yellow tone. Her slip had been replaced as well, though this time instead of a pure white, it was a blood red, making her cringe as a specific skull emblem began to dance across her vision.

"Good, you're awake." The new voice was sudden, making Elizabeth jump from shock as her body began to fearfully shake again. As the figure who accompanied the voice came into view, her fear started to fade as she finally faced someone who she knew wouldn't hurt her.

After all, Alexander Pierce was on her side.

"Pierce... How'd you find me? What happened? Did you manage to get Phoenix from—," the questions came hammering down first, her mind completely jumping over the fact that whatever vocal damage she experienced by her own screams was now seemingly healed, before her eyes had landed on the figure standing in the doorway Piece had entered. "What's he doing here...?" now her words were barely inaudible; her body beginning to shake again as she realized yet again Nicholas Whitehall was in her presence. Her stomach had contorted itself in the most gruesome of ways as his cold, dark eyes met her once-gold-now-dulled-to-a-bronze ones.

"Mr. Whitehall is here merely as your first motivation for compliance, Doctor." Pierce had begun behind Eliza as a breath hitched itself in her throat.

/Anyone can betray anyone.../

"You say first as if I'd need another." the blonde girls attempt at composure was merely an act, for inside she was beginning to malfunction once more, preparing to collapse against the cot she woke on any second before a door opened, though not on this side of the room.

"I say first because you'd /wish/ you didn't need another." but Pierces words were nothing but ambient words in her ear as her gaze fell on the room on the other side of the window; two of those clad-in-black men entering and standing by the door before another two dragged a limp body.

Eliza's stomach continued its contorting movements as she studied the the limp figure, realizing it was a man's, and also quite familiar.

The men carrying the body had lifted him up and onto the silver table she observed earlier, now giving her a full view of who exactly this was and wishing she had looked away while she had the chance.

"Dom..." The name came out almost as a whisper as she took a step towards the glass; her heart beginning to race in her chest as her mind began to fully process the situation. /Of course/ Pierce was a part of Hydra; a part of the decomposing parasite and so high in a rank no one would suspect. /Of course/ he had somehow found out about her ties to the eldest Stark son, and so of course he was unconscious in front of her, about to be used as a tool destroy whatever individuality she had left inside.

Her lip began to quiver as she felt a "please don't hurt him" begin to escape, though the strength she used to stand up was now being moved to her mind, allowing her to formulate words that may get her somewhere. "You wouldn't dare... His name is too public for you to just wipe off the grid—,"

"Do you know how fast Stark's drive their car's on public streets?" Somehow, that was Pierces beginning argument as his now cold eyes met Elizabeth's own; her hand beginning to toy with the end of fabric on her slip, needing something to keep herself occupied and standing instead of screaming and collapsing. "Close to a hundred and thirty miles per hour. A collision at that speed would mean an instantaneous death." she had shut her eyes at these words; the story Pierce was telling her being a replica of what could be published in the papers for the next day. And no one would question it.

It wasn't anywhere close to silent now, for her breaths were heavy in her chest, making the blood rush faster and louder around her ears, creating a low humming sound all the while. If she wanted to say something this was her chance, because in the next few seconds everyones attention seemed to fall to the body in the room over.

It was loud, and it was sudden; Dominic's intake of air as he suddenly sat up from the silver table, looking everything over in seconds with his deep blue eyes. Now it was Eliza's hearts' turn to sink, contort even. He was there, and he was now a weapon.

"The arc reactor would keep his heart beating even after your so called accident, no one would—." She had stopped herself mid sentence, feeling her eyes glaze over as a hand went to her mouth in order to cover a silent sob.

"What average American would pay attention to those details?" Nicholas had begun to speak on his end of the room, though Eliza hadn't given him her attention as she watched the Hydra men begin to tie down Dominic's arms with restraints, moving to the ankles as he began his resistance. "Besides," he had went on, only causing the small girl to visibly wince at his voice. "it wouldn't be a surprise if it just... Popped out."

And the whirring began.

She didn't know what machine it was, or how it even got there without her noticing; all she knew was as soon as it turned on, she had screamed, and unknowingly, she had screamed Dom's name.

At the mere sound, Dominic on the other side froze, hearing the voice as his eyes fell towards a mirror in the room and everything seemed to look clear in his eyes.

"Liz...? Liz!" but before he could yell any louder, the whirring noise had come to a stop, causing the man to attempt to double over on the table and groan in pain; the noise hadn't stopped because it turned off, oh no, it had stopped because it had come into contact with the one thing that left the eldest Stark son standing. It had latched itself onto the glowing arc reactor in his chest; the low humming sound filling the room as Elizabeth finally stopped screaming, breathing heavily as everyone stared down into the other room.

"Was this just to provoke her—?"

"No... Somethings wrong... Maybe the timing was off, or the electricity went o—," Pierce hadn't had a chance to finish speaking, for his words were interrupted by Dominic's shallow breaths as the whirring begun again; the frail girls screams soon to follow.

It was quite the scene really; there was not a single place you could take a focus, for in one room you had a girl screaming to save the life for a man she had loved, and in the other the man willing to give his life for a woman whom he had loved. If it were a comedy, you would have laughed, however that action was left for the Whitehall boy and Alexander Pierce, who were grinning like two idiots while holding the small girl back as to keep her from banging on the glass.

"You have close to twenty seconds to make your decision." Nicholas' voice was like poison on her ear, causing her voice to crack mid "LETHIMGONOW,PLEASE!" as she had sobbed instead, listening to the breathless man on the other side still managing to speak.

"Liz," large intake of air as the whirring still went on. "don't tell them anything; don't give them what they want I'm—," another large intake, causing the girls eyes to water as she attempted once more to pull from the grasp of the two men. "I'm fine." he had finished, his skin beginning to pale itself to a paste as Elizabeth only continued her screams along with her struggle.

"Ten seconds."

"Really? I'd say seven."

"Don't get smart with me, Whitehall; maybe you've forgotten but I—,"

"Stop! Stop it, I'll do it! I swear! Just let him go!" their banter only worsened her condition, making the words of compliance jump from

her mouth and causing her to stop, earning both hesitation and stares from the two men as Pierce let go of her arms.

"Repeat that for me please."

"I'll finish the damn algorithm," she had begun as fast as she could, hearing the whirring ahead of her and Dominic's attempt at reassurance, only making her wince in her place as another sob threatened to escape. "just please... Let him go." her voice was but a whisper as Pierce had stared at her, making her want to scream as she could hear the Stark struggling to keep a hold onto his life on the other side. But with a simple hand-gesture towards the window, the whirring stopped; the machine letting go of the one thing that the Stark's life depended on and pushing itself back into the corner of inexistence.

Everything was silent, except for the dim hum of the arc reactor coming back to life, and the rush of blood around Elizabeths ears; her eyes trained on the almost lifeless body of Dominic Stark practically in front if her, watching as the color of his complexion subtly returned before his head had turned to face her despite him actually only seeing his own reflection. Unknowingly or not, a breath had hitched itself in her throat; the classic, brown eyes meet blues scenario played out in the worst way ever as she took a step back, only to feel a hand on her shoulder.

"Compliance will be rewarded, Dr. Childs. You'll see." she hadn't turned to see Pierces reaction as he spoke, for her eyes were fixed on another's as her heart hasn't seemed to cease its rapid beating, though finally breaking away the contact with a wince at Nicholas' final words to her.

"Hail Hydra."


End file.
